Make Believe – An exhibition of the 63 years of the Myer Christmas Windows

Last Friday evening I had the pleasure of attending the opening of the Make Believe exhibition at the Melbourne Museum. This is a wonderful celebration of the 63 year history of the Myer Christmas Windows as well as a celebration for John Kerr and the 25 Christmas windows he and his team at Stage One Australia, have created.

On arrival there was a definite feeling of anticipation and excitement. Formal speeches (John’s brought tears) were followed by the exhibition reveal.

Having been lucky enough to have two picture books chosen as themes for the windows – Little Dog and the Christmas Wish for the 60th Year Celebrations in 2015 and One Christmas Eve for 2016, the evening was very special to me. It was lovely to see again the familiar faces of the artisans who crafted the characters and sets, the people who brought the story and Little Dog and Bella to life.

There’s footage of every window over the years, a record of personal memories of the windows and why they are so special, and walking through the exhibition it is ever clear why the windows are such an important Melbourne tradition.

For me, along with publisher Maryann Ballantyne and illustrators Robin Cowcher and Marjorie Crosby-Fairall it was a special experience we will always treasure. Thank you all.

Thank you John Kerr for your imagination, creativity and foresight and Connie Caputo for your wonderful support and guiding hand.

A big thank you also to Harry the West Highland Terrier who was my little shadow at book signings, launches and he even appeared on TV one December morning. He was also the illustrative model for the follow up book, Little Dog and the Summer Holiday and thank you Laraine and Mark for the privilege of borrowing Harry.

And for One Christmas Eve, thank you to Lily, the illustrative model for One Christmas Eve, my book signing buddy and first editor of the book.

This Christmas, Little Dog and the Christmas Wish will be on show for the last time at the Myer Wagga Wagga store and One Christmas Eve is on display at Myer Geelong until early January.

Here’s the link to the exhibition – https://museumsvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum/whats-on/make-believe/